<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, managers of capital projects are under relentless pressure to consistently meet their performance expectations. At the execution stage, managers have to constantly orchestrate competing demands on scare resources and, simultaneously, manage project operations to meet time, costs and quality compliances. This calls for simple methods to distinguish factors that could cause execution stage delays and prioritise their remedial actions. The objective, therefore, was to propose and test a methodology through empirical evidence, which could be useful for managers to focus on the distinguishing factors (rather than on all factors) to achieve execution excellence. We used a three-stage methodology leveraging the existing Project Management Institute (PMI) framework to define variables and then tested the methodology using case data generated from projects adopting a grounded theory approach. A set-theoretic, multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) tool helped appropriately configure this empirical case data and a subsequent Boolean minimisation technique then identified the distinguishing factor(s) that explained superior project schedule performance. The results corroborated literature findings. Two contributions emerged from this study: (a) our methodology enabled a richer analysis of the case than what would have been possible by adopting a more conventional approach; and (b) there is a potential for a domain-specific extension of the PMI framework to cover technology transfer projects having their unique knowledge areas.</p></abstract>

In an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, managers of capital projects are under relentless pressure to consistently meet their performance expectations. At the execution stage, managers have to constantly orchestrate competing demands on scare resources and, simultaneously, manage project operations to meet time, costs and quality compliances. This calls for simple methods to distinguish factors that could cause execution stage delays and prioritise their remedial actions. The objective, therefore, was to propose and test a methodology through empirical evidence, which could be useful for managers to focus on the distinguishing factors (rather than on all factors) to achieve execution excellence. We used a three-stage methodology leveraging the existing Project Management Institute (PMI) framework to define variables and then tested the methodology using case data generated from projects adopting a grounded theory approach. A set-theoretic, multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) tool helped appropriately configure this empirical case data and a subsequent Boolean minimisation technique then identified the distinguishing factor(s) that explained superior project schedule performance. The results corroborated literature findings. Two contributions emerged from this study: (a) our methodology enabled a richer analysis of the case than what would have been possible by adopting a more conventional approach; and (b) there is a potential for a domain-specific extension of the PMI framework to cover technology transfer projects having their unique knowledge areas.

Identifying New Knowledge Areas to Strengthen the Project Management Institute (PMI) Framework

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi

Organization, Technology and Management in Construction: an International Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, managers of capital projects are under relentless pressure to consistently meet...

Identifying New Knowledge Areas to Strengthen the Project Management Institute (PMI) Framework

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Mar 08, 2019

Page range: 1892 - 1903

Received: Mar 27, 2018

Accepted: Nov 28, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2018-0014

Keywords
qualitative comparative analysis, grounded theory, causal factors, project performance

© 2019 K. Chandrashekhar Iyer et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Identifying New Knowledge Areas to Strengthen the Project Management Institute (PMI) Framework

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Mar 08, 2019

Page range: 1892 - 1903

Received: Mar 27, 2018

Accepted: Nov 28, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2018-0014

Keywordsqualitative comparative analysis, grounded theory, causal factors, project performance

© 2019 K. Chandrashekhar Iyer et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
qualitative comparative analysis, grounded theory, causal factors, project performance